On November 21, 2014, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has amended the “Safety of Life at Sea” (SOLAS) convention. Effective July 1, 2016, containers departing from any foreign port in the world must, by global law, list the Verified Gross Mass or “VGM” of the container as declared by the shipper. The SOLAS amendment is an important step towards a safer maritime industry, and is a result of a long history of under declared weights – the results of which can be seen below

This will surely have a huge impact on the industry, but – studies have shown that very few parties are prepared for the implementation.

While an abundance of resources are available for SOLAS, but unfortunately – very few hard facts yet. Below is information & resources we found most helpful and information we are working on ourselves. We will continue to add information as the industry prepares and announces information:

Worldwide Terminal Policies:

We encourage you to thoroughly review all information available on all websites and check with your shippers and/or regional authority. The Journal of Commerce (www.joc.com) is an excellent source of information and we highly recommend a subscription to the JOC to stay on top of developments. Using JOC or other sources is critical to understand how each country is dealing with SOLAS and to ensure you understand those jurisdictions applicable to your supply chain so as to avoid disruption in the flow of goods or increased costs in the way of penalties

Reminder – enforcement begins on July 1, 2016 and is in force in all ports worldwide. IMO’s IMO Memo MSC.1Circ.1548 clarifies that cargo already in-transit as of July 1 will not be subject to SOLAS enforcement at transship ports.

STATEMENT CONCERNING COVID-19:

Odyssey is carefully monitoring the COVID-19 situation and is following guidance and all precautionary measures from health authorities and local governments. Our top priority, relative to the outbreak, is to protect our people, operations and customers from any adverse impacts.

We would like to assure you that business continuity plans and contingency measures are in place to minimize all possible business disruptions. Our global supply chain is designed to mitigate risks in order to meet customer commitments and obligations. We will continue to monitor the impacts and provide you with updates as they are available.

Warehouse & Distribution

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